Paul Weller For 6music

I have my moments with London where I am so utterly in love with it. They are typically unglamorous moments, a shared joke with a stranger when typically you can’t make eye contact with someone, a stroll over Hampstead Heath just at the right time in the autumn to catch the blue hour, the Soutbank in the sunshine. The smell as you get on the Bakerloo line at Paddington, sooty and warm, especially clenches at my heart for inexplicable reasons.

Seeing live music is also a huge part of this love for London. Yesterday, courtesy of BBC 6 Music, we got to see Paul Weller at Maida Vale studios. For free. I could never take opportunities like this for granted and where else would I get to see an intimate gig with a musical legend without denting my pocket? Where I grew up you had to travel over thirty miles across Devon to catch a gig with the Modfather, my poor sister having to be the designated driver due to my lack of driving license. Yesterday we just jumped on a bus down the Kilburn High Road.

Paul Weller was in chirpy spirits, clearly less angry and more mellow as he gracefully ages (flawless dress, he is still a Mod of course). More importantly he still performs like he means it, deep in his bones and running through his veins. No fakery or false sentiments. Just raw sincerity.

You can listen again on BBC 6 Music. He played Around The Lake • That Dangerous Age • The Attic • The Changingman • When Your Gardens Overgrown • Wake Up The Nation • Andromeda

Snaps below but full photo set can be found on my Flickr so click here to view them. Another huge IOU to BBC 6 Music. ♥